As an essay in futility fuelled by amorphous desire and energy, Oshima’s ‘cruel story’ is up there with A bout de souffle (1960).
Review by Stephen Thomson

Despite the fact that Alfred Hitchcock had made over twenty films before he moved to Hollywood in 1939 it has been suggested that his British films were those of a gifted amateur whereas in America he was a true professional at the peak of his powers.
Review by Paul Huckerby

This early silent establishes some of the idiosyncracies he later became famous for, notably his cameo appearances and his fixation on blonde actresses. It is also Hitchcock’s first take on the theme of the wrongly accused man, which would preoccupy him repeatedly throughout the rest of his career.
Review by Virginie Sélavy

Based on the true story of the rapist and serial murderer Eisuke, Violence at High Noon is a detached and disturbing portrait of post-war Japan that owes much to the films of Alain Resnais and Robert Bresson in terms of its non-linear structure and its fascination with the amoral activity of the social outsider.
Review by John Berra

The cult Japanese director earned his reputation making gritty, brutal films, and while The Sun’s Burial, originally released in 1960, is uncompromisingly bleak, it’s also a fantastically evocative snapshot of a post-war Japan traumatised by humiliation and defeat.
Review by Sarah Cronin

While it might be considered less important or engaging than Oshima’s later work, Night and Fog in Japan is a fascinating reflection on the dynamics of political movements in 1950s Japan.
Review by Martin Cleary

With its cool monochrome, nonchalant protagonist, freshness of tone and naturalistic feel, Kisses has as much to do with European neo-realism as it does with Japanese cinema, and was no doubt influenced by Masumura’s stint as a student at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome in the 1950s.
Review by Virginie Sélavy

Der Letzte Mann is less celebrated than FW Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) or Sunrise (1928), and its imaginative scope is certainly narrower. But it is perhaps the director’s most perfect example of purely visual narrative.
Review by Peter Momtchiloff

An unforgettable silent masterpiece made by two giants of cinema, Tabu reminds us how it was once possible to take innocent delight in the alien-ness of a distant culture.
Review by Peter Momtchiloff

Hailed as a masterpiece of early German cinema and still regarded as one of the best horror films ever made, the 1922 classic Nosferatu has stood the test of time, despite a shaky start.
Review by Lindsay Tudor